The treatment of skin imperfections such as scars, solar keratosis (sun damages marks), age spots, vitiligo marks, skin tags, calluses, keloids, moles, pigmentations, and stretch marks remains a major problem despite the development of numerous treatments such as the use of silicone sheets, scar subcision, deep chemical peels, laser resurfacing, dermabrasion and so forth. The problem with current techniques for removal of skin imperfections is that they all are poorly effective, expensive and often painful. And, if the dermatologist or esthetician performing the procedure is not highly skilled, the results can produce further scarring.
An alternative to removing skin imperfections is to enhance a natural biological process termed “skin remodeling.” During the process of skin remodeling a wounded area which has healed is slowly reconstructed to remove the residual scars and imperfections. This smoothes the skin and blends the skin with nearby undamaged skin. Scar collagen is removed and replaced with a mixture of skin cells and collagen fibers. This skin remodeling may continue in a skin area for 10 years. In children the remodeling rate is high and scars and other types of imperfections are usually rapidly removed from injured or disfigured skin areas. But as individuals reach adulthood, this rate diminishes and small scars and lesions may remain for many years.
One way to accelerate remodeling is the use of exfoliating chemicals to speed skin shedding; in stronger versions they are used as “chemical peels”. Likewise, biochemicals such as retinol and retinoic acid activate systems that increase skin breakdown and resynthesis. Another way to accelerate skin remodeling is with the use of skin regeneration accelerators that enhance the skin's production of collagen and elastin. The use of skin regeneration accelerators can be combined with the methods that cause controlled skin damage.
Van Scott (U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,386) indicates that metallic (copper, zinc, or aluminum) salt forms of cysteic acid, cysteine sulfinic acid and homocysteic acid produce remissions of dry and broken skin, keratoses, warts and palmar and plantar hyperkeratosis.